Yankee Rumor Roundup or Fun with Twitter

Today was the first day of the Winter Meetings and there was no lack of rumors to be had. At one point I read a report that had both Curtis Grandersonand Edwin Jackson on their way to the Bronx and just minutes after Jackson was supposedly on his way to Citi Field to play with the Mets.

Obviously those were just a couple of reporters going crazy with their twitter and people picking it up and running with it, but there were a few rumors out there that had some wings. Let’s take a look at a few of them.

First of all, general manager Brian Cashmanhas said that his priority is, “pitching, pitching, and pitching. And then obviously left field.” A DH would probably be the last thing they take care of as their are more DH’s than open positions and they can take care of it internally if they choose to promote Juan Miranda.

Aroldis Chapman: We’re starting to hear that the market for him will not go above $20 million with Tyler Kepner of the NY Times believing that the Yankees may not go above $15 million for him. The reason for this is because of fears of his makeup and the fact that his talents remain largely unknown. Guys out of the Dominican Republic are generally much more well known commodities and they don’t ever get near $20 million. Although they’re generally 16 not 21 and rarely, if ever, do they throw 100 MPH.

Chien-Ming Wang: Wang’s agent seems to think that he will be ready to pitch by May 1st, but Ken Davidoff of Newsday reported that Wang is “as good as non-tendered.” It seems like Wang really wants to stay, but more likely he’ll end up with the Dodgers who are rumored to be interested because Joe Torre liked his work ethic.

Kelvim Escobar: According to Joel Sherman of the NY Post, the Yankees spoke with the soon to be 34-year-old’s agent about the possibility of him coming to the Bronx. This seems like something that could happen last minute though as he is planning on pitching in a Venezuelan winter league to prove he’s healthy. So naturally any deal would like come after that league has wrapped up.

Jason Marquis: According to Chad Jennings of the Journal News, Cashman spoke with the agent of Jason Marquis while they were riding to the meetings together. I wouldn’t make too much about this one as reports make it almost sound casual and it is doubtful that Marquis could survive facing the Red Sox 2-3 times a season. Maybe as a no. 5, but he could probably find a better opportunity elsewhere.

Curtis Granderson: At this point all you need to know is that the Tigers are asking for both Phil Hughesand Austin Jackson for Granderson. Like Buster Olney said, “The team is asking for the moon and the stars and if they get what they ask for, great, but asking for and getting what they want are two different things.”

Mark DeRosa:According to Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger, the Yankees have had initial talks with DeRosa’s agent and plan to meet sometime this week. This doesn’t make a ton of sense for the Yankees, first he’s not a pitcher and he’s not Granderson. Maybe they’ll meet, but if DeRosa’s asking price remains around $9 million per year then I can’t see the two sides reaching an agreement.

Melky Cabrera: Melky’s name came up when it appeared that both the Yankees and the Cubs could be interested in Mike Cameron. According to Joel Sherman the Cubs like Melky and he made it sound like the two discussed possibly putting together some kind of deal where the Yankees would get Cameron and the Cubs would end up with Melky. This seemed more like wishful thinking than anything that might happen.

Nick Johnson: According to Jayson Stark of ESPN, the Yankees are one of the seven teams interested in Johnson. The Yankees would want to use him as their DH, but this is unlikely because it has been reported that he is looking for a two-year deal and apparently the Yankees are only interested in one.

I think that doesn’t. If not, oh well, that’s eight players. The Yankees were tied in with Edwin Jackson too, but nothing solid really came of it. If something bigger does come up, we will, of course, cover it.

So what do you think? Me, I am starting to feel like the Yankees just need to bring back Andy Pettitte and maybe Johnny Damon and then go from there.

About Rob Abruzzese

Rob Abruzzese created Bronx Baseball Daily in 2008 just before graduating from Brooklyn College. He currently serves BBD as its editor and works as a reporter at the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Follow Rob on Twitter @RobAbruzzese.